Jesus: the Strongman Stronger than Satan

Knowing Jesus

This morning we’re going to continue looking at the life of Jesus, as it’s laid for us in the Gospel of Mark. If you were here last week, we saw how a great crowd was following Jesus. But instead of this being 100% a good thing, we saw evidence that a number of the people coming to Jesus (the sick and those afflicted by Satan) actually missed the significance of who he was. And it’s at that point in Jesus’s ministry, that he selected twelve men to be his special ambassadors – twelve apostles – so that they could both be with him, and also be sent out by him, to teach about Jesus’s worth and work accurately. But even within this group of twelve apostles, many of these disciples themselves aren’t clear on how significant Jesus is.

And this morning, we continue to see how Jesus is misunderstood – not just by the masses of diseased people who have come looking for a miracle – not just by people who are demon-possessed – not just by his disciples. But Jesus is also misrepresented and wrongly accused by his own family, and by the religious leaders among the Jews who should have been welcoming and worshipping him.

So if you haven’t already, please turn with me to Mark, Chapter 3. We’ll be focusing our attention this morning on verses 20 through 35. But before I read God’s Word for us, let’s ask for him to bless this time we have together. Let’s pray:

[Pray and Read Text]

Is Jesus a Liar from Satan, a Lunatic, or Truly Lord?

The author and thinker C.S. Lewis is probably best known today for writing the Chronicles of Narnia. But C.S. Lewis, as a Bible-believing Christian – he wrote many other things as well, including a number of books that were designed to make the case that the Christianity is undeniably true, and worth our attention.

And in one of these books, called Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis is a bit bothered by the large number of people who deny, or who don’t understand, that this historical figure, Jesus, is actually the Almighty Creator God, who had come down in human flesh. Many people want to think that Jesus was simply a good man, or a moral teacher, or an inspirational role model. But C.S. Lewis points out that if we really pay attention to how Jesus lived, and what he said about himself, then none of those options are possible.

And this is because Jesus affirms his authority as the Son of God, and he exercises it. He forgives sins – something that only God can do. He authoritatively interprets and applies God’s law – again, a role that rightly belongs to God himself. He wields miraculous powers to cleanse the defiled, to heal the sick, and also to cast out and rebuke evil spirits. Jesus himself presents evidence to us that he isn’t just a man. He is the Son of God. That’s what Jesus is asserting.

And so if Jesus is asserting that he is actually the Almighty Creator God, in human flesh, you can’t just reduce Jesus to being a really nice guy – because that’s different from what Jesus himself indicated. Either he’s telling the truth and He’s your Maker and Master, or he’s out of his mind (and he’s confused about who he is), or he’s a terrible liar from the pit of Hell, and he’s intentionally trying to deceive people. Those are the three options we get left with.

And so that’s the case that C.S. Lewis makes. You and I have to wrestle with Jesus’s identity and consider – is Jesus a liar? Is he lunatic? Or is he Lord?

But even though people give C.S. Lewis quite a bit credit for developing this argument, what we see in our text this morning, is that he just took those categories straight out of the Bible. Even in Jesus’s own day, people misunderstood who Jesus was. It gradually became clear to the people around him, that those were the three options they had to choose from. And so as we work through our text, we’ll continue to see how people misunderstand Jesus – which is a theme that we saw last week. We’ll see that he’s accused of being a liar and a lunatic. But we’ll also see that there are some who rightly understand Jesus’s identity and authority as Lord. And those are the ones who ultimately receive Jesus’s affirmation.

So this morning, I’ll divide our text into three main points. We’ll see the accusations against Jesus – that’ll be my first point. Second, the authority of Jesus, and then third: those acknowledged (and affirmed) by Jesus.

The Accusations Against Jesus

So let’s consider, first, the accusations against Jesus. You’ll notice in verse 20, that after Jesus had been out of town – out with the crowds by the sea – Jesus returns to his house. At this point it’s understood – even though he grew up in a village called Nazareth, that as an adult, he now had a house in a larger town called Capernaum, near the Sea of Galilee.

As Jesus returns to his home, though, the crowds follow. We’re told that “the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.” It’s not that the crowd is prevented from being able to eat – but this indicates that the crowd is so large, and so insistent on getting Jesus’s attention, that he and his disciples are constantly occupied. There’s not a spare minute to go get bread from the market. It’s possible that there isn’t even a gap in the crowd for Jesus or one of his disciples to slip out of the house.

Even though Jesus’s hometown of Nazareth is twenty miles away – which was quite a hike in those days – by this point, word has gotten back to his mother and brothers that Jesus has been attracting these massive crowds of people from all over the region. (They’re explicitly mentioned again in verse 31. It would seem by this point, Joseph had passed away and was no longer in the picture). Yet when his family members hear these reports, their reaction is maybe different from what you’d expect. They don’t approve of what Jesus is doing. They aren’t Jesus’s biggest fans. In fact, they’re a bit horrified that Jesus has gone off like this, and has made himself a public spectacle. They assume that with all the things Jesus has been doing and saying – it must be that he’s gone crazy.

Now that being said, my guess is that they’d been able to tell that Jesus was a bit different growing up. There would have been no question that Jesus’s life was marked with perfect integrity. He never stole toys from the other kids, or told lies. There would have been no question that he was committed to his relationship with God. So Jesus’s mother and brothers had no problem accepting that he was a good son, a kind brother, an exemplary human being – they could affirm all that. But they couldn’t accept that Jesus might actually be God. So since they were convinced of Jesus’s good character – since they knew that he would never intentionally be a liar – they decided that he must be a lunatic.

And so this group of people who thought they knew all about Jesus – his own mother and brothers – they don’t believe what he says. And this is a sidenote – but notice, the Bible here gives plain evidence that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a sinner. She doesn’t rightly believe in her son. She’s motivated here by unbelief, by sinful assumptions. And it’s important to be clear on this, because the Roman Catholic church today teaches the opposite. They’re very clear on claiming that Mary was without sin, and that people like you and I should pray to her, and respect her with special, intense form of veneration. But frankly, this idea doesn’t come from the Bible. In fact, this manmade tradition in the Roman Catholic church – it violates what the Bible teaches. We should be careful to make sure that our faith isn’t built on manmade traditions or opinions, but that the church is built on the foundation of the prophets and apostles – that our faith is built on the Words of Scripture, that God has preserved for us.

But as I was saying, we see here that Mary, Jesus’s mother, and his brothers – they don’t believe that Jesus is legitimate. And so in verse 21, we see that they make plans to go get him, and to put an end to all these bizarre things that he’s saying and doing.

But in verse 22 – Mark switches his focus temporarily – and he shows us that it isn’t just Jesus’s family members who’re driven along by unbelief, here. But the religious leaders of the Jews, too – the scribes and the Pharisees – they don’t believe Jesus, either. And the sad thing is that these were the people who were considered to be experts of the Old Testament Scriptures. They were supposed to know the truth about God better than anyone else. But they didn’t. When God took on human flesh and came to them – they didn’t recognize him. In fact, they really didn’t even like him.

Because when Jesus came, he didn’t pat them on the back and tell them good job, which is what they assumed God would do for them. Instead, Jesus challenged their understanding of the Bible. He asserted that there were certain traditions and ideas that the Jewish religious leaders had that were actually wrong. And this was pretty offensive to the Pharisees and the scribes. They weren’t willing to humble themselves, and to consider what Jesus was saying. They couldn’t bring themselves to admit that they might be wrong. And so the Pharisees dug in their heels, and insisted that Jesus must be wrong. It must have been obvious to them, in their interactions with Jesus, that he was a coherent thinker in his right mind. So they couldn’t write him off as being insane. He wasn’t a lunatic. So they decided he must be a liar.

But, of course, Pharisees and the scribes, they also had to figure out how to account for all the miraculous signs that Jesus was doing. The Pharisees weren’t willing to accept that it was a work of God. And so they decided that all Jesus was doing and saying – all his miracles and such – must be the result of evil spirits. It all must be a work of the devil – the deceiver, Satan – the Chief Liar of all Liars. And we see the Jewish scribes making this accusation in verse 22. They were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul”. (Beelzebul is essentially another name for the Satan, that has roots in the Old Testament). And the scribes were also saying, “by the prince of demons he casts out demons.”

The Authority of Jesus (over Satan)

So how does Jesus respond to these accusations? He responds to each of these accusations by once again asserting his unique authority. And this is my second main point from our text, dealing with the authority of Jesus.

You’ll see that he first responds to the false claims that have been made by the scribes and Pharisees, in verse 23. When these accusations come, he isn’t intimidated by the Pharisees and their social influence. He doesn’t just try to ignore or avoid them. But Jesus assesses the situation, and decides that it’s wise to deal with their accusations head-on. So he initiates a conversation with them – he calls the Pharisees to himself – in order to give a response. But interestingly, Jesus responds in the form of a parable – and he makes a series of colorful comments that are all intended to make the same point. He first asks: “How can Satan cast out Satan?” And then he adds, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.”

In other words, if Jesus’s miracles and actions are really being driven along by an evil spirit, than why is Jesus using all his power to oppose Satan and his demons? Why is he rebuking and casting them out if Jesus has really been co-opted to be a pawn for Satan? Why is Jesus attacking the army of Satan? Why is he trying to expose and shut down the battle plans Satan has? Jesus raises the point here – there aren’t any earthly kings who would be foolish enough to run their kingdom like this. A kingdom divided against itself can’t stand – it can’t continue to exist. Surely Satan, in all his cunning and craftiness wouldn’t do something so foolish. He wouldn’t be sending out his minions to open fire on each other. He’d basically be shooting himself in the foot.

And so Jesus goes on here to assert his true identity and authority. He isn’t a liar, being controlled by evil spirits. But he’s Lord, and he’s the one who has control. And he explains this in the form of another little parable – another word picture, in verse 27. He says that “no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man.” In this case, the strong man is a reference to Satan. And Jesus is saying, that there’s only one way that the house of Satan can be plundered. The only way that hostages possessed by the devil can be rescued is if someone more powerful than Satan shows up and overpowers him.

And so here’s the point: there’s only one way to explain the fact that Jesus has been rebuking evil spirits and casting them out. Jesus must have greater power and authority than Satan.

Because for the Jews at that time, it would have been widely understood that mortal human beings don’t inherently have authority like this. We can’t dictate what angels or demons must do. We aren’t in charge of directing spiritual beings like this. That power and authority belongs to God. And yet here, Jesus governs the spiritual realm. He, himself – by his own authority – has been plundering the house of Satan. He has come as the divine Son of God, stronger than the strongman. And it’s because of Jesus – really only because of Jesus – that the grip of Satan on human beings is lost. It’s only through Jesus that evil is driven out, and the household slaves of Satan are set free.

And so whenever you’re caught up in evil – whether that evil influence is from Satan, or whether it’s from your own corrupt desires and thoughts – in either case, you can be certain that Jesus has the power to rescue you. Your temptations may be strong – but Jesus is stronger. You really need to understand this. I think many people get discouraged – because their bad desires, or their addictions, or their bad habits – they just seem too powerful. It seems impossible that we could ever be free of them. But Jesus is giving us evidence here, that there are no evil powers in this world that are greater than the Lord Jesus Christ. And just as Jesus worked so effectively in those days to drive out evil by the Holy Spirit, Jesus continues to work by the Holy Spirit, in each one of his people.

And we can tell from our text that Jesus carried out his good work through the power of the Holy Spirit, based on what we see in verses 28 through 30. Jesus is aware that the Pharisees have been accusing him of having an unclean spirit – an evil spirit. And so Jesus jumps in here to clarify – even though, yes, he’s working by the power of a Spirit, it isn’t an evil Spirit. But it’s the spirit of God – the Holy Spirit.

Now, as Jesus defends the special importance of the Holy Spirit, verses 28 and 29 have often unsettled people. Because even though Jesus acknowledges his authority, again, by indicating that he has the ability to bring forgiveness for all kinds of wrongs we might commit against God – it almost sounds like Jesus is saying that there’s a certain action people might do, that would make it impossible for them to find forgiveness. Because he says in verse 29, that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit” – whoever speaks insulting, offensive things against the Holy Spirit – never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” That’s what Jesus says.

But what does he mean by this? Well, remember in the context, here, the Pharisees are looking at the good works that Jesus is performing by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it should be obvious to them, that God is at work. They should be celebrating the presence of the Spirit, humbling themselves, believing. But instead, the Pharisees see all the good things that Christ is doing by the Spirit, and they call it evil. They don’t accept the evidence that’s given by the Spirit, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But instead they accuse the Spirit of being unclean. Essentially, they accuse the Spirit of being from Hell.

And Jesus is saying here – if a person is like these Pharisees – if they look at the goodness of the Spirit, and insist that it’s evil, then these people are very lost. They’re in a very dangerous spiritual condition. Thieves and murderers and tax collectors and sinners – all of these people can find forgiveness, if they see the spiritual work of Jesus, and believe that he’s the Savior who can set things right. All kinds of sins like that can be forgiven. That’s how great Jesus’s power and authority are.

But if someone rejects the evidence of the Spirit that points us to the world’s only Savior – then they’re rejecting the only way of salvation. They’re rejecting the only way that exists for them to find forgiveness from God. And so it’s in that sense, that people who blaspheme the Spirit of Christ can’t find forgiveness – at least, not unless their unbelief is put away.

One more important side note to point out on all this, though, is that when Jesus talks about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, it’s actually a confirmation that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. This word blaspheming – it’s not used for impersonal objects. It’s not even used for sacred objects or things, like the temple or the sacrifices on the altar. You can’t speak blasphemy about things. You can only utter words of blasphemy against glorious spiritual persons. And so the Holy Spirit isn’t just a mechanical spiritual force sent from God. But the Holy Spirit shares in true divinity along with God the Father, and God the Son. Jesus himself gives us evidence that this is the case.

But remember, Jesus isn’t just dealing with unbelief from the Pharisees. He also needs to affirm his true authority in the way he responds to the unbelief of his own mother and brothers. And so his interactions with his mother and brothers – which was put on hold, back in verse 21 – it gets picked back up here in verse 31. His mother and brothers finally arrive, and when they get outside the house, there’s a crowd – not a great crowd of thousands – but it’s a smaller crowd of people who appear to be more invested in what Jesus is saying. And so from Jesus’s family members – they ask the crowd to pass on a message. They call for Jesus to come out to them. And remember, they’re doing this because they think he’s a lunatic. It’s because they want him to give up on teaching.

But when Jesus finally hears this message, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you” – he responds in an interesting way. He asks, “Who are my mother and brothers?” It’s not that Jesus has amnesia or memory loss – the problem here isn’t that he doesn’t know who his family members are. Instead, the problem here is that Jesus’s family doesn’t know who he is.

And that’s why he says what he says in verses 34 and 35. He looks around this smaller crowd, of people who have been persistently following him, to hear his teaching – and he affirms that these people are closer to him than his own family. “Looking about at those who sat around him, Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!” And he explains: “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

I’ll explain this special relationship between Jesus and his followers in a moment. But before I do, notice in Jesus’s comment, here, that he’s once again asserting his unique identity and authority. Because he’s affirming here, that all these people are doing the will of God by following him. In other words, listening to Jesus, putting your hope in Jesus, following Jesus – those things are at the heart of what God wants for us. God’s will for you and I, and for all people everywhere, is to follow Jesus, and to trust in Jesus, as our Leader, and our Lord.

When people talk about God’s will, I think a lot of people – even a lot of Christians – they imagine that doing God’s will means that you need to figure out what God’s hidden plan for your life is. You need to figure out who he wants you to marry, or what major you should choose in college, or what job you should take, or where you should live. And some people can be very anxious about making decisions – because they feel like it’s up to them to figure out what God’s secret expectations are before they can do anything confidently.

But when the Bible talks about doing God’s will, the focus actually isn’t on trying to live based on information that’s hidden. But the focus is on living your life based on the expectations that God has told us about, in his Word. So the most helpful questions we can ask when it comes to figuring out what God wants for us is, “What has God actually said about what’s good and wise? What type of person has God said I should be? How can I make decisions that are motivated by faith in Jesus, that move me closer to God and his people?”

Because living by the will of God specifically means that we should follow Jesus – that we should be among those people who join together in revering Jesus, and listening to His Word, and enjoying his presence. Jesus himself declares it, here – that’s what God wants from us.

Those Acknowledged by Jesus

But in our remaining time together, there’s just one more point I want to make from our text. I want to help you appreciate those acknowledged by Jesus. This is my third and final point.

The big surprise here is that Jesus acknowledges that there’s a connection he has with the crowd that’s stronger than the relationship he has with his biological mother and brothers. Now, this doesn’t mean that we should have no regard for our physical family members. Other parts of the Bible make it clear that those family connections are very important in how we live out the Christian life (like Ephesians 5 and 6, or 1 Timothy 5 verse 8.)

But Jesus is telling us here that there’s a type of relationship which runs even deeper. He points to this crowd of people that’s following him. And he says that he has a family relationship with them that’s even truer and longer-lasting than the relationship he has with his physical family members. He declares that these people who are following him are his spiritual family. But he doesn’t leave it at that. He goes on to make a statement, that reaches even to us – and he says that “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

And I want to make sure you understand what Jesus is saying here – how wonderful this news is. Because Jesus is looking out at a crowd made up of very different people. Probably not too different from a crowd like this. The people have all kinds of personal histories, different family cultures, different incomes, different levels of education. But what we all have in common, is that all of us have rebelled against God. All of us have been living like slaves in the household of Satan. And all of us deserve to be punished for our evil thoughts and deeds. And yet God has sent us someone who’s able to overcome our guilty past – someone who’s able to overpower evil, even the devil himself. And when we turn to Jesus and trust in him, not only does he bring us out of the household of Satan – out of our bondage – but Jesus brings us into a new household. Into the household of God.

And he doesn’t just bring us there to be decorative, or to be slaves in the house. But in Christ, we gain a family relationship. We’re adopted into the house. Even though at one point, all of us were outsiders, because of our sin – Jesus takes his followers and he makes them insiders. We’re given a real place in the family. Our position is secure. We’re given an instant connection with God as our Father. We’re invited to experience the great love of God – the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And because of all this – because of Jesus – it means that you and I are brought together, too, in a very close way.

And so even though it’s true, that following Jesus – like this crowd did – even though it’s true that it might cost us something. Even though it’s true that turning to Jesus means that there are wrong priorities and desires we need to turn from – make sure you see here – that Jesus doesn’t leave his followers empty. He doesn’t deplete them, and invite them into a life of misery and meaninglessness. But Jesus gives us God. He gives us himself. He gives us love. He gives us a family.

Jesus operates here with perfect wisdom and kindness. When he takes action, when he speaks, in all that he does – it isn’t evil. He isn’t a liar. It isn’t insanity. He isn’t a lunatic. But Jesus carries out plans that are perfect and pure and good. Jesus is Lord. And so let’s make sure we actually appreciate him together. As a church in Mt Pleasant, let’s embrace the special connection he gives us with God and with one another. And let’s follow his lead – let’s follow by faith. Please pray with me: